Anthony Bourdain once picked his 10 favourite movies of all time
Cultural icon Anthony Bourdain was a chef who managed to transcend food and touch hearts wherever he went, introducing Western audiences to the wonderful cuisines and cultures around the world. Bourdain’s tragic suicide shocked fans all over the globe, who flocked to the streets as well as the internet in order to pay their respects. As a tribute to the late chef, a critically acclaimed documentary called Roadrunner was released, chronicling Anthony Bourdain’s journey.
Throughout his career, Bourdain was known for his gutsy exploration of unfamiliar cuisines and his willingness to engage with people from all walks of life – a trait of his personality that extended into his admiration of music, cinema and art. He used food as a lens to explore complex issues such as politics, culture, and identity, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of diverse cultures around the world.
During an insightful interview with NPR, Bourdain explained how he always felt like an outsider looking in. He revealed that he was unable to understand what someone meant when they referred to “normal people”. In order to bridge the gap, he decided to study their desires through their food habits like a psychoanalyst.
Bourdain said: “I didn’t know any normal people. They were abstractions, literally shadowy silhouettes in the dining room of wherever it was I was working at the time…to the extent that I knew or understood normal people’s behaviours, it was to anticipate their immediate desires. Would they be ordering the chicken or the salmon? I usually saw them only at their worst – hungry, drunk, horny, ill-tempered, celebrating good fortune or taking out the bad on their servers.”
While discussing this gap, he also stated that he had learnt about the experiences of other people from cinema: “What they did at home, what it might be like to wake up late on a Sunday morning, make pancakes for a child, watch cartoons, throw a ball around a backyard – these were things I only knew from movies. The human heart was and remains a mystery to me, but I’m learning. I have to.”
Bourdain’s adventurous spirit was evident in his curiosity and eagerness to explore the far corners of the globe. Whether he was traversing bustling markets in Southeast Asia or sampling street food in South America, Bourdain’s willingness to embrace the unfamiliar and engage with diverse cultures endeared him to viewers – and, of course, that ran true with his cinematic favourites.
Just like Bourdain had been appreciative of international cuisines, his taste in cinema also proves that he had been an ardent admirer of the beauty of world cinema. With his eclectic list, Bourdain admired features ranging from French New Wave gems to Hong Kong masterpieces.
Bourdain maintained that the works of Wong Kar-wai were among his favourites, claiming that he was the most romantic filmmaker in the world. Although Wong has made several masterpieces on the subject of romance, most notably In the Mood for Love, Bourdain chose his frenzied 1994 classic Chungking Express.
The late chef justified his choice by claiming that the combination of Wong Kar-wai and Christopher Doyle was magical: “I could watch the work of Wong Kar-wai (and the brilliant cinematographer Christopher Doyle) all day long. I don’t have to understand what’s going on…I don’t care. Beautiful people, photographed beautifully. His films are the best, most romantic out there.”
See the full list below.
Anthony Bourdain’s favourite movies:
- The Friends of Eddie Coyle (Peter Yates – 1973)
- Eyes Without a Face (Georges Franju – 1960)
- The Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo – 1966)
- Chungking Express (Wong Kar-wai – 1994)
- Kiss Me Deadly (Robert Aldrich – 1955)
- Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (Nagisa Ōshima – 1983)
- Withnail and I (Bruce Robinson – 1987)
- Army of Shadows (Jean-Pierre Melville – 1969)
- House of Games (David Mamet – 1987)
- Sullivan’s Travels (Preston Sturges – 1941)
